3of 4San Francisco Giants pitcher Ty Blach catches a toss from the third baseman during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, in Maryvale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Photo: Carlos Osorio / AP

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LOS ANGELES — Austin Jackson, the Giants’ new center fielder, stood by his spring training locker and smiled at the thought of stepping into the right-handed batter’s box at Dodger Stadium and seeing the season’s first pitch from Clayton Kershaw on Thursday.

“It’s a special moment in baseball,” Jackson said. “You always cherish those Opening Days. You’re playing a team in your division and you’ve got two great pitchers. What more can you ask for from Opening Day?”

Jackson’s sentiment became moot within hours when Whit Merrifield’s line drive struck Madison Bumgarner on his pitching hand in the final Cactus League game.

Kershaw-Bumgarner, which has become the Ali-Frazier of West Coast baseball, became Kershaw-Ty Blach.

Still, aside from the ESPN crew having to cram on Bumgarner’s replacement, it remains Opening Day, Giants-Dodgers, and that is still a big deal.

Kershaw will make his eighth consecutive Opening Day start. Blach his 27th career start. Only one San Francisco Giant has pitched the opener with fewer big-league starts. Al Holland had three in 1982.

All the usual nerves will be there, maybe a lot more from the San Francisco partisans who are convinced the Giants actually began a long trek toward Opening Day 2019 when Bumgarner had three pins inserted into his pitching hand.

No offense to Pierce Johnson and Roberto Gomez, who pitched well in spring training and need not apologize for making the team, but Giants fans would be a lot less queasy if, instead, Bumgarner were in the bullpen getting loose and Jeff Samardzija were standing along the first-base line for pregame introductions.

Will the Dodgers make the Giants keep standing there when they raise their 2017 National League pennant?

San Francisco fans who revel in the Dodgers’ 30-year World Series championship drought view that pennant as a cute participation trophy. Meanwhile, the Giants’ three titles grow fainter in the rearview mirror by the day.

With two of their top three starters and their closer out of the picture for now, the promise of rejoining the Dodgers in the upper division seems just as faint on Opening Day.

Besides the pennant, the Dodgers also will raise some form of marker denoting their 2017 National League West title.

Yes, division titles still mean something, and the Dodgers have won the NL West five years running. Moreover, the Dodgers have clinched three of their past four titles by beating the Giants and forcing them to watch the big old celebratory dogpile on the infield.

The Giants want that to change.

SURPRISE, AZ - MARCH 05: Starting pitcher Ty Blach #50 of the San Francisco Giants throws a warm up pitch during the first inning of the spring training game against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium on March 5, 2018 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

“The goal is to win the division,” left fielder Hunter Pence said. “It’s a whole new season. The team to beat is the team you’re playing against. Go out there, do the preparation, be free and trust in that.”

And are the Dodgers again the team to beat? They have to be viewed that way.

At the same time, second baseman Joe Panik said, “That’s not for us to talk about or decide. They’ve got a good team. There are a lot of talented teams in the NL West. The Rockies are good. The Diamondbacks are good. The Padres are good this year. There’s a lot of competition, but nobody can deny the success they’ve had.”

More by Henry Schulman

Notwithstanding all the bad news of the past week, and what it might mean for the whole of 2018, the Giants on Thursday know they need to focus on the little picture, or at least that large left-handed pitcher who will be very prominent in the shot.

Kershaw looks no worse for wear after pitching through Game 7 of the World Series. He did not allow a run in spring training and struck out 23 in 211/3 innings. For the record, Jackson is 1-for-7 against the big left-hander. Jackson hit a single to right last year.

Blach is 3-for-5 with a double, and know what? He has pitched awfully well against the Dodgers, too.

“We’re just preparing for ourselves,” Panik said. “We’re not going to be worried too much about them celebrating the past year. They had a good year last year. We’re going to be focused on what we’ve got to do.”

Which, for now, is to win a game or two in L.A. and make all of Giantsville feel a little better about things during what should be a happy time.

Henry Schulman has covered the San Francisco Giants since 1988, starting with the Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Examiner before moving to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1998. His career has spanned the "Earthquake World Series" in 1989 and the Giants' three World Series championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In between, he covered Barry Bonds' controversial career with the Giants, including Bonds ' successful quests for home-run records and his place in baseball's performance-enhancing drugs scandal. Known for his perspective and wit, Henry also appears frequently on radio and television talking Giants, and is a popular follow on Twitter.